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£5k fine for ignoring safety warnings

12 Jul 12 A Lincolnshire builder has been fined £5,000 after ignoring advice and warnings from the Health & Safety Executive about the sorry state of his site.

The unsafe construction site at Danesgate in Lincoln
The unsafe construction site at Danesgate in Lincoln

Andre Wilkin, trading as Hillen Projects, was the main contractor on a refurbishment scheme at Danesgate in Lincoln when an HSE inspector visited as part of a national construction safety initiative on 1 March 2011.

A scaffold, which was not being used at the time, was found to have numerous defects and the site itself was littered with slip, trip and fall hazards.

Lincoln Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Wilkin was told about the three issues on the day of the visit and was sent a letter two days later detailing the actions he needed to take to bring the site up to an adequate standard.

A follow-up inspection a month later found that nothing had improved. The scaffolding was still dangerous and the site was still a complete mess. Two prohibition notices were served to stop work until the scaffold was fixed and the site tidied to provide a safe means of access around the place.

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Andre Baudouin Wilkin, of Market Place, Caistor, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 27(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and Regulation 4(1) (c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 for his failings. He was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,800.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Martin Waring said: "Mr Wilkin was offered plenty of advice and had the opportunity to rectify the problems that were identified. Instead he chose to continue putting workers at risk.

"It is essential that construction work, particularly work at height and site organisation, is properly planned to ensure that appropriate precautions are in place."

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